Kerry Challenges Bush to Weekly Debates

By Michael Conlon

ANOKA, Minn - Democrat John Kerry on Thursday challenged Republican President Bush, to weekly debates from now until the Nov. 2 presidential election.

"America deserves a serious discussion about its future. It does not deserve a campaign of fear and smear," the Massachusetts senator told a crowd at a community college near Minneapolis. The campaign said the audience was chosen from undecided voters.

He said he was prepared to have a discussion with Bush "every single week from now until the election" on a different topic each time, such as national security, the environment and health care.

The special commission on presidential debates has recommended three such debates beginning in late September. The Kerry campaign has accepted that format but the Bush campaign has delayed its decision on the debates until after the Republican National Convention in New York next week.

It is not unusual for challengers to seek more debates to become better known among voters and for incumbents to turn them down.

The Bush campaign did not directly respond to the new challenge. "During the next few weeks, John Kerry should take the time to finish the debates with himself," said Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt.

"This election presents a clear choice to the American people between a president who is moving America forward and a senator who has taken every side of almost every issue."

Kerry spent much of the week defending his Vietnam War record against commercials questioning whether he deserved his medals and calling on Bush to reject the ads.

"I hope he will get his staff, his attack dogs and all those other folks out there to pull back and start focusing on how we’re going to make America stronger here at home and more respected in the world," Kerry said on Thursday.

"Let’s meet every week from now until the election and talk about the real issues that will make America strong again."

The Kerry campaign also announced it was pulling a television commercial featuring former Vietnam prisoner of war Sen. John McCain during the 2000 Republican primary season when Democrats said Bush attacked the Arizona senator’s patriotism. McCain had asked that the ad be discontinued.

Kerry spokesman David Wade said the ad was being pulled because Kerry wanted to respect McCain’s wishes. But he added: "It’s past time that George Bush also take John McCain’s advice and put an end to the smears and lies."

In a trip to the battleground state of Minnesota which Democrat Al Gore won by two percentage points in 2000, Kerry switched to health care issues, saying voters will have to choose between putting the interests of health insurance companies and big drug companies above those of patients.

"Today, millions of Americans have one option for health care: Emergency room in the middle of the night," he said.

"We’ve got families who are just one accident, one illness away from financial ruin. And we’ve got grandparents cutting their pills in half, choosing between filling their prescriptions and heating their homes. America can do better."

The Kerry campaign also announced a new drive to reach undecided and politically indifferent women voters.

It said jobs, health care and economic security are among the main issues of interest to women and that Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and Elizabeth Edwards, wife of vice presidential nominee John Edwards, would kick off the effort at events in Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire and Ohio. (Reuters)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6081625&pageNumber=0